Loading...
 
Skip to main content

Features / Usability

Forum List Topic List

 
Thread actions
Print this page
  • Print all pages

    • Tips Advice for Structuring Site - New User

    Posted by martcol

    Hello,

    I hope it's OK to ask this but heck, I'm going to anyway!

    I am new to Tiki and so far think that I can see its potential. I do think that it is a very steep learning curve but I don't think I mind that so much.

    I want to develop a site to manage company policy. Different documents might include policy, guidance, briefings and news. The policy documents need to be fixed as will the briefings.

    I want to start a document out with a small group of people collaborating and once the document is finalised, to lock it up.

    I want the whole site to be public facing and some documents to be contributed to by anyone.

    I think I need a small group of high level editor privileges (no interference with the site but ownership and control of content). I would also like to be able to have a small group of people editing/developing small components.

    In my day job I am a mental health social worker. I am not sure that my Local Authority will even consider this idea but, I am going to have a go at developing it anyway.

    These are my main questoins:

    1. What modules must I use (critical)
    2. What modules might be helpful (optional)
    3. Can I do what I want with the user privileges
    4. Any other advice


    Thank you

    Reads: 1872
    Posted by Gary Cunningham-Lee

    Hi martcol,

    No problem asking the question; that's what the forums here are for. Now, I just hope you'll get some helpful answers. Taking a crack at it myself, first I'd like to clarify what you mean by modules. In Tiki parlance, modules are those little information sections/boxes mostly in the left and right columns, or across the screen top and/or bottom. They're to hold menus, site logo, recent activity info, and so on. Of course you can use whatever modules serve your purposes. One thing to be aware of is that the more "recent posts" type of modules you have activated, the more database queries are needed, which impacts site performance.

    Maybe you are talking about what are called "features", like blogs, forums, wiki, galleries, and so on. Of these, certainly the wiki is needed. It's active by default and is the natural place for collaboration as you describe. Articles are more for write-once-and-publish news items, announcements, and so on with a time stamp, so to speak. Blogs and forums are also available if you want people to have a place to voice their ideas individually or in a discussion, respectively.

    Galleries are good if you have the need for file storage and access or display.

    As for access permissions, I'd be careful about allowing anonymous visitors to have any content creation or editing privileges, due to the high probability of spammers taking advantage. Even allowing unknown site visitors to register and then contribute will likely lead to ads and other unwanted content unless you monitor the site carefully. There are various means to control site registration so you can be sure of having trustworthy users.

    Tiki has a "page lock" function, and of course pages can be rolled back to a prior version if editing goes bad at any point.

    I suggest checking out Rick's http://twbasics.tikiforsmarties.com/tiki-index.phpQuestion for details regarding site siteup.

    -- Gary


    Posted by martcol

    Thanks again Gary

    Yes, I meant features rather than modules. There seem to be plenty of them. I'm worried that I might miss some good/helpful options because of not knowing.

    I think I need to read up on users groups and permissions.

    Say I want to develop a referral policy. I'm thinking I would have three users with edit rights just for that document. They would be in a group. The document could be open to view and others (registered) could comment to influence development of content.

    Eventually, that document would get sign off and be locked. Could it then become an article?

    Martin